Viewers 'not ready' for switchover
Updated on 30 October 2008
A consumer watchdog has warned that some television viewers are not fully prepared for the UK's first main digital switchover in just a week.
The switchover process begins in the Borders on November 6 and will affect around 52,000 households covered by the Selkirk transmitter.
Consumer Focus Scotland said while awareness of the switchover date was high, many Borders viewers were still unprepared.
The watchdog said the official Help Scheme for older and vulnerable consumers did not get the information to people who needed it early enough. As a result, some did not know what they should or should not do and had even bought new equipment unnecessarily.
Consumer Focus is monitoring progress in the run up to the switchover using a digital diary project. This tracks the experiences of more than 100 people in the Borders.
Trisha McAuley, head of services and advocacy at Consumer Focus Scotland, said lessons needed to be learned from how the first switchover was being handled.
She said: "Because the official Help Scheme didn't reach many of the people it was targeting until late on in the run up to switching, many consumers have not had clear enough advice at the right time on what they need to do and what they don't."
Switchover takes place in two stages. The first starts shortly after midnight on November 6 when analogue BBC Two will be switched off and replaced with the BBC's digital channels. Stage two takes place a fortnight later on November 20. The remaining analogue channels will be replaced in digital format.
A Digital Switchover Help Scheme spokeswoman said: "Digital UK has been raising awareness about the Help Scheme for older and disabled people for at least eight months before switchover in the Scottish Borders."
"All 17,000 eligible people were contacted at home with an application pack in plenty of time to apply for the help before switchover, as we said they would be. We have now heard from high numbers of people that we have contacted so we know they have got the message," she added.
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